


The Path of the Lost King

by Zatyrical



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Help, His name is Damon here, I just realized I like writing about people getting lost, King Remus, King Roman, King and Witch Logan, Logan is stranded in another dimension and makes friends, M/M, Magic AU, Roman and Remus are worried about their husband, Royal Advisor Deceit, Sales Assistance Virgil, Teacher Patton, The complete tag for intrulogince is way to long, Virgil and Patton are good people, child thomas - Freeform, it's becoming a theme now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21978688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zatyrical/pseuds/Zatyrical
Summary: Logan knew a lot. Between him and his 2 husbands he was, by far, the smartest.That unless his husband Remus came up with an idiotic plan and told Logan to help him try something new for scientific reasons... Then all of Logan's survival skills flew out of the window. He decided that from now on he will just say "no" to Remus.Or at least he is going to if he finds the way to get back home.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Intulogince, Moxiety, Roman/Logan/Remus
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

Logan didn't know where he was.

There were things that he didn't recognize and… well that was about it.

He noticed people… walking, he understood that much.

Everything was different, there were some kind of what it looked like metallic vehicles that passed besides him at surprising speed, there were big constructions at both sides of the fast-looking machines, people talking to themselves discussing topics that Logan was definitely not accustomed to. This new place was also a lot brighter, even if it was day and the sun was brightly shining above them, there were a lot of, what Logan assumed, were mostly magical-induced lights since those didn’t seem to contain any kind of flame.

Logan started wondering where he had arrived and the feeling of everything happening at the same time washed through him. He needed to calm down before something bad happened, he was lost, and he had to go back home. 

There was also the voice of Roman at the back of his head telling him 'I told you so'. Roman's voice, really. He was usually the one who thought things through, the one that had common sense.

"I won't ever hear the end of it" Logan murmured. He had to learn to stop siding with Remus if he said it was for investigation purposes, granted sometimes it worked, but right now? Right now he had no single idea of what happened. 

Also, people started to notice him. Not only notice, but also stare at him.

They had a reason, he was not going to deny it, his clothes were certainly different to whatever they were wearing. He scoffed under his breath, he had won his robes, they gave him prestige and rename, only the most powerful witches gained the green decor on their robes, that plus the royal emblem on the left of his chest, meaning that he was part of the royal family, and his magical carrier purse.

But it was also his fault having ended up in Merlin knows where, so he had to fit in, at least for a while.

A big image, brightly lit by what probably was a very heavy (and unnecessary) spell, showed a male wearing some weird, not protective-looking, clothes. Logan looked around again and saw some males and females sharing the same look that man in the big picture. Deciding that it was probably the best that he could get, he morphed his robe into the weird clothing, a kind of pants dark in color that fell straight down, and two fabrics that covered his torso, one white with buttons that looked like the ones Roman would wear to a formal dance, just less puffy, and another one that looked like the tailored suits that Remus had in the back of their closet. All of that plus some weird fabric necklace that surrounded his neck.

Logan sighed again and started walking, he should have listened to Roman, he should not have used the secret book from the dungeons he was regretting not paying attention to him. Logan would never tell his husband that he was right, his head was filled with ego without it, but at least the image of Roman's chest growing in superiority at Remus and Logan saying that he was right put pressure on him. Maybe that would help Logan find a way out faster.

He grabbed his purse that was hanging from his wrist and checked inside, there was some money that he had saved in there in case of emergencies. Logan wondered if gold coins were a valid currency or if they used another type of material in their exchanges.

* * *

"What do you mean he just disappeared?!" Roman asked his husband almost screaming… or well fully screaming.

"What part of it you don't understand? He was there at one point, he said the incantation, and then he was not" Remus was freaking out too, he was not fooling anyone, but Roman _had_ told them not to use the ominous book that they had found on the dungeons and it may have been Remus' doing that Logan carelessly decided to do the weirdest and most appealing spell that they could found.

"I am seriously wondering why did your parents let you rule a whole kingdom, but in retrospective now I know why they hired me to advise you" Damon, the royal advisor, stood at one of the corners of the room, looking at the brothers amused.

Damon had to admit that he was worried for Logan too. Logan had been his friend since before he married to the Wards and became a king, and he had always got out of trouble by himself, he had wit that he builded up with years of experience and more knowledge that the whole kingdom combined, but since he had married both Roman and Remus he got carless. 

Damon believed it was for the pair, they made Logan get out of his comfort zone and act in ways he would never expect his friend to act. It did not mean that Damon didn't like the change on Logan, after a lifetime of worrying for his own safety, getting to be more carefree and a little less cold was a good look on him. The problem was when Roman's or Remus' antics get out of their hands, Logan was curious by nature, and when either of his husbands said they wanted to do something because they wanted to know what would happen for future reference… well it always ended in problems, as of right now, that Logan had simply disappeared out of thin air.

"You lost our husband!" Roman was freaking out, the other two could fathom that much, but Damon knew that he would end up cooling down and trying to reason a way of helping, because the elder gods knew that Remus, once calmed down, would personally take a horse and travel the 7 seas to find his husband.

"It was a project!" Of course Damon's job was to avoid royal disputes and help take good and thought through decisions, but nowhere in the job description said that he couldn't have a little fun watching 2 out of the 3 Kings fight with the only brain cell that they shared. After all he trusted Logan he wasn't nearly weak enough to not be able to handle everything by himself.

"A project?! You sent him to who knows where… because of a project?" Roman was starting to seem more hysterical with every passing second and Remus had started to fidget with his hands.

Logan being able or not, the Wards had lost their husband and Damon had the obligation to help them.

"We could always check the book again" The pair draw their attention to the advisor faster than what should seem normal and then they looked at each other.

"It should be around here" Remus said while starting to look around the floor where they left the materials used.

The three moved everything off the floor along with everything on the room in the hope of finding it, resulting unsuccessful. 

"I'm going to kill you Remus" Roman looked like he was having a heart attack while sitting on their bed and hiding his head on his hands.

Remus sat besides Roman and carefully put a hand around his husband bringing him to his chest.

"We'll find him" Roman shaked a little at his partner's words "and when we do you can kill both of us for not paying attention to what you told us"

Roman nodded silently while Remus put a kiss on his head. 

"The book should have an author, even if we don't have the book, we could find someone that knows it"

Both Remus and Roman turned to look at Damon again and both nodded. They were doing this, they were finding their husband.

* * *

"So, your grandfather gave you, as heritance, 50 actual medieval gold coins from the 1270's which are worth almost 80,000 dollars, and you want to exchange it?"

"That's what I said, yes"

Logan was in line of a bank, a place that these people called a construction where other people took their currency and protected it from others. It seemed to be some sort of establishment that worked for a bigger kind of government, one that was not based on blood. 

He investigated somethings before going to change currencies, and not only was currency and clothing differently, but the whole social environment, jobs, education, and machinery used was, by Logan's estimations, updated at least almost a millenia.

"Listen, we don't do this here, I can't just simply exchange gold with money" the lady behind the window sounded exasperated.

"Isn't this supposed to be where I can get usable currency?" Logan was confused, this place had a complete difference in bartering than his original home.

"Yes, with protocols and bank accounts, we are not an antique shop" 

"Antique shop?"

"Listen pretty guy, there is one two blocks away" the lady grabbed a piece of paper and wrote what Logan deduced was an address. Later handing it to him "you want to change those? They can help you, not me, now move you are delaying the line"

Logan grabbed the little piece of paper and started to walk away. This world was getting weirder and weirder with passing time and he was starting to get worried.

How was he even supposed to get out of there if he could barely understand the semantics of where he was?


	2. Chapter 2

Saying that Patton was getting frustrated would have been an understanding. He was sure that the principal of the school he worked at was only keeping him longer than usual because it was protocol. And yes, his students may have been a little more… enthusiastic than usual, with his small project, but what 14 year old teen wouldn't? 

It had been a small "let's build our own country and make our own rules" project, and it had builded up to half school leading a country and the other half created a country themselves. The fact that it had ended in a fight food, (or The War of the Neutral Lands, as he heard the students call it) was not his fault (directly),  _ and _ it had helped the kids know that, just as history told, wars were more loss than victories. It had ended with a truce and the principal bursting into the cafeteria, but the kids had fun and also learned about dictatorships, monarchy, and rulership.

It had had a happy ending.

And the principal was not mad at him, he had known her for a long time to know when she was actually angry, but she was scolding him and telling him how the kids were supposed to learn in a more theoretical way.

He nodded every time and added some one-syllable words to let her know that he was listening, but he couldn't help but to look at the clock every 15 seconds. Patton wanted to listen to the principal but one, he was not changing his teaching ways, maybe toning it down a little for a while, but not quitting it completely. And second, he was supposed to be picking up his son right this instant.

Thomas was a good boy, and Patton was sure that he would be alright if he arrived 10 minutes later than usual, but it was his boy, he didn't want him to carry the consequences of problems that were not his. It was also Friday and consequently, family movie night and they had to go and buy some corns.

"Mr Sanders" principal Hughs called and Patton's attention went back to where he was supposed to be.

The principal was a good woman, but it had been a tiring day for everyone at school, so she looked exhausted. She sighed.

"Listen Patton, you are one of the best teachers that I have in this school, the kids love you! The staff is really fond of you. Other teachers may not like you so much, but they know that their students  _ learn _ with you" Hughs turned around and took a couple of folders from one of the shelves that she had in her office, then she handed them to Patton "This is the income that we have had this past month" she handed him the second folder "This is the money that we have been spending on repainting, replacing, and, in one specific case,  _ rebuilding _ "

Principal Hughs gave him a moment to take the data in and Patton knew that it was not good. The income was still more than the spends but it was close, to the point in which less than a hundred dollars would make the income number go from green to red.

"The council have been talking about cutting personal"

The statement crushed Patton. He had been the one causing the majority of trouble for the school's waste of money, and the council was not fond of that, he knew who would be the first head they would cut off.

"Elena, I didn't-"

Hughs raised a hand, cutting him from talking "I talked them out of it" Patton felt like breathing again, but that still didn't mean that there wouldn't be bad news.

"They made me promise that you would be in check… and under probation" 

Patton sank again and a shiver crossed his back. Probation would mean less money income, and his family was not in the position to be receiving less money.

"I know you have been really short on money, and that even with you and your husband working it's not enough for the three of you, but I figured that probation was better than not having a job" 

The silence was tense. Patton knew that principal Hughs was right, he should be grateful to still be having a job, but he still needed to break the news to Virgil, and usually bad news weren't good for his anxiety.

"It is better, thank you Elena" And he was genuinely thankful, he just wished he had done things different.

Elena nodded slightly and gave Patton a letter with the seal of the council.

"The probation will last 3 months, try to pass them Patton, it would be heartbreaking if we had to tell you goodbye"

Patton nodded and thanked Elena again. He was in probation now.

He shaked the principal's hand and walked to his car. He felt he was doing a walk of shame, some of his students went and apologized to him (for the problem that they had caused, Patton knew it was not because of his probation state) and even if he usually didn't let the kids apologize for having fun, this time he only had energy to smile sadly and make a simple gesture with his hand, trying to make them seem as if it had not been a big deal. Monday morning, when classes started, he would be fine, he would act as if nothing bad had happened and would use the food fight anecdote to teach them something.

Today he had to save that energy to confront his family. Thomas was not going to mind, mostly because he was 8 years old and they were not going to tell him, but Virgil…

He got on his car and drove to Thomas’ school.

Virgil was not going to be mad at him, not at what had happened, but he would worry, and he would want to work extra hours to compensate but it wasn't fair for him either. Virgil was already doing extra hours, today he arrived at the antique at 4 am for goodness sake. Patton was going to arrive for him after going for Thomas, his shift ended at 5 pm, and they would try to relax as much as possible.

They needed to think of something. They were already renting the second floor of their place, but it wasn't big, and it wasn't fully furnished, so they didn't really have much luck in anyone taking it.

Before he noticed, he arrived at the entrance of Thomas' school and saw his boy sitting, talking with some friends. Patton took a deep breath, put his happy face, and honked the horn of his car weakly. Thomas' face light up, said goodbye to his friends and ran towards the car.

"Hi!" Thomas sat in the shotgun seat and put his seatbelt on.

Thomas leaned and gave a kiss on Patton's kiss and it made him feel better. He was fine, he had his son, and they were going to be fine.

"Ready for movie night?" Patton asked pulling out of the schoolyard and going for a grocery store to buy some juice and popcorns.

“Yes! Are we watching a Disney one?” Thomas moved impatiently on his seat, probably wanting time to go faster.

“I don’t know, it’s dad’s time to pick a movie” Patton smiled to himself, Virgil usually picked movies with darker animations, and Thomas loved them, but he usually preferred movies about princes and princesses.

Virgil liked those ones to, but not as much as Nightmare Before Christmas. He used to put that one specific movie so often that they had to create a rule that said that if you picked one, next time it was your turn to pick a movie for movie night, you couldn’t pick up the same one. 

“Maybe we’ll see Treasure Planet” Thomas said excitedly, still moving on his seat.

Patton chuckled a little and felt revitalized, Thomas’ excitement was contagious. “You know what? That would be really cool”

Thomas smiled back at Patton and he calmed a little more. 

It didn’t take them much to arrive to the grocery store and buy what they needed. They had taken their time, walking around the aisles and talking about their days. Patton told Thomas the story about the food fight, knowing that Thomas would actually enjoy it, and when not talking about the consequences, it was an amazing story. 

Thomas also told Patton about his day, how him, Joan, and Talyn, his best friends, worked together in class, how they three won 2 extra points for working faster than other teams, and how everyone congratulate them. At one point he also told him how Joan’s parents were taking them on a themed park on the weekend and how Talyn’s parents were taking them on a one-week vacation next month. Patton stood quiet while Thomas recounted what Joan had told them what traveling on an airplane felt like.

There was nothing that Patton wished more than to take his family on a vacation like that. Long beach days, swimming together on a pool at a big and pretty hotel, breakfast buffets, not having to worry about anything. But they couldn’t, there were bills to pay and due dates to meet, they had too many responsibilities, and so little time, but that time they spent it with their son. He wished so many things, and maybe one day those wishes would come true, but until then, they had each other.

They payed for the stuff that they bought and decided to go to the antique, Virgil would certainly like the company and they could make the last half hour feel less tense for him.

Since the moment they arrived something was different, there was more people there than usual. The antique was popular but usually there wasn’t much people, or at least not more than 10 clients at the same time. Now the parking was full, the front of the shop also had cars parked, and he swore he just saw a couple get out of a car parked at the other side of the street and cross just to enter the antique.

When Patton finally was able to park, two streets away, and entered the antique he was met with a big quantity of people surrounding the main desk. 

The owner of the shop was there, something that rarely happened since he was a wealthy man and had other business to attend. He was talking with a tall dark haired man in a suit, Patton didn’t recognized him but he looked imponent.

“Pat!” Virgil’s voice came from his side and Patton turned to face his husband.

“Dad!” Virgil’s eyes lightened up when he saw Thomas coming towards him with arms open.

“Hey little cloud, how did school go?” Thomas started to move impatiently again in his place and Patton smiled again, he also saw how Virgil almost immediately smiled too.

“I won 2 extra points!”

“That’s my boy” Virgil raised a hand for Thomas to high five and Thomas complied.

“Can I go and see the old jewelry?” Thomas asked looking at Virgil expectedly.

There was too many people inside the small business, but there was still a clear view to the place where Thomas wanted to go. Patton looked at Virgil, knowing that the thought was the same, Virgil just shrugged.

“Okay, but stay nearby where we can see you” Thomas smiled happily again at Patton and nodded before running to the showcases.

“So, what is going on?” Patton asked and Virgil shaked his head, probably still surprised at whatever was happening.

“It was the weirdest thing” Virgil started explaining, lowering his voice in case of anyone listening “It was around 10 in the morning when this dude appeared out of nowhere and comes to the desk explaining how he needed to change his  _ currency _ ”

“Currency?” Patton smiled slightly “is he not from here?”

“That’s the thing, no weird accent, just really… extravagant vocabulary. So he comes here and just when I’m about to tell him that this is not that kind of store, he pulls this little bag that looks it’s from the Middle Ages” Patton seemed to have made a face of curiosity because Virgil started to nod fervently “My reaction exactly, so then he opens up the bag and it’s this little pile of small golden coins”

Patton turned again to see the man in a suit standing in front of the desk, who was now talking casually with the owner. Thomas was on the other side of the shop, still checking some of the old necklaces displayed.

“Golden coins?"

Virgil nodded, looking like there was a lot more to tell "At first I thought it was just copper washed in gold or something, but he said it was actual gold, something about his grandfather inheritance being 50 gold coins"

Patton was starting to piece everything together and suddenly the amount of people started to make sense "You called the inspector?"

"Yes!" The face of unbelief that Virgil had made a lot of sense now "And when he arrived he said…" Virgil made some movement with his hands and Patton understood completely.

"Real gold coins?!" He exclaimed before being shushed by his husband.

"Yes" Virgil whispered looking around to see if they had called someone's attention. Thomas was still in the showcases but now looking at old tiaras "In dollars it would be around 80 grand"

The number almost made Patton fall "Oh my god"

"Exactly" Virgil was in the same situation than him, the look of absolute bewildered marked on his face.

There was still more, Virgil was fidgeting with his hands, moving a lot on his place. Patton knew Virgil perfectly, the next news were also big.

"He is also looking for a place to stay" And there it was.

"He is? What did you say?" Patton crossed mentally his fingers, with everything piling on them, they needed the money.

Virgil looked around again and for instinct he did it too "I explained about us renting a place, and he offered $3500 a month" 

"What?!" This time being a full of exclamation, Virgil covered Patton's mouth with his hand and smiled shyly at a couple of people that this time had heard them. Still, Patton had other things in mind "A… month?... You explained to him that it was not a full apartment, right? That it's our second floor. That it may be comfy but not even remotely close to $3500?"

"Yes! He said he did not care for the money, that he did not expected to be around more than a couple months and that this currency would not be useful for him"

"Virgil, this is too much" 

And it was. No one that was mentally sane would spend that much money on a place that was a) rented and b) did not even have a personal kitchen. They would be having to share kitchen, and TV, and upstairs they only had 3 rooms, one was the bathroom, the other was the bedroom (which only had a bed, a closet, and a lamp), and an empty room, that was  _ not _ worthy $3500.

But on the other side, he was on probation, Virgil had been working extra hours for weeks now, and Thomas…

Patton turned to see Thomas and saw how he was looking at the ornaments on some old spears. His boy needed a better life.

"It would be good" Patton whispered, taking Virgil by surprise.

"Pat, a guy with that much money? He is weird, not even slightly confusing, but plain weird. And he would  _ live _ above us." Patton knew that Virgil had only offered the place because he was being nice, not expecting a guy like him taking the offer. It had backfired.

There was also the whole 'breaking the news to Virgil, and what better time than now.

"Virge… I am on probation" 

Virgil's weird surprise changed into a more sad surprise. He took Patton's cheek on his hand and left a small understanding kiss on Patton's lips. It made him feel better, but it didn't made the explanation easier.

"What happened?" Virgil asked softly.

"The kids took the project at heart, they had a food fight on the cafeteria, they called it The War of the Neutral Lands. Long story short, they have to repaint the walls Elena called me into her office and gave me the news" It all felt surreal for Patton, it was like telling a story in a third person perspective. 

"That's bullshit!" Virgil said, furious "You are one of the best teachers there"

"The other teachers don't like me, less the council, it  _ has _ been my fault that the kids get some wild ideas"

"Patton, your ideas are great, kids love you! They love learning with you" Virgil's hands were on Patton's arms, rubbing slightly trying to comfort him and a sudden wave of love filled him.

"They wanted me fired Virge, Elena spoke for me" The moment filled with silence and Patton knew that they had made a decision "We need the money, honey"

Virgil started to nod when his attention was caught up on something else. His eyes opened in shock, and when Patton turned and saw how Thomas was happily talking with the mysterious man Virgil was already moving.

"Thomas!"

* * *

Logan had finished talking with Mr Clarke ('Mister' apparently being a title of respect that was used on this place). He had talked about wealth, and social-economic positions for about 30 minutes, before he finally gave him the currency. This new currency was certainly another weird thing that he was definitely keeping an eye on. Just a paper, with numbers, names, and dates, it made no sense, but again, not much did in this new world.

Logan couldn't help but thinking that Roman and Remus would love this place (Maybe even Damon would enjoy himself). Everything was extravagant, colorful, full of life and social interactions, in summary not his ambience but Roman and Remus? They would have had so much fun.

He missed them. It hadn't passed too much time, it had been about 6 hours since he arrived, but he didn't know when he was coming back (not if, when, he was not letting anyone take him away from his family). He also wished they were with him mostly to help him with all of the interactions needed.

In their kingdom, Roman was the one who talked more freely with their people and ambassadors from other kingdoms, he was a social butterfly, everything flowed freely out of him and he could charm anyone with just a flick of his hand.

Remus was the one who managed the army and provisions. He was ruthless, he knew when to act and how to train everyone to be their cruelest self. Everyone was really scared of Remus at the beginning, that until they saw him around kids. Remus was creative, he could tell the most incredible stories, he knew what was exactly the point of fun and adventure that kids needed, he matched their energy and carelessness.

And then it was him, Logan. He was not really good at war planning, nor interacting with people, but he searched for ways that the kingdom would thrive, economically and socially, he provided jobs and distributed riches and help.

And it worked. The three of them were a perfect balance. Now he had to try and act as if he cared for the wealth of the man while trying to cut the conversation short.

He had actually enjoyed his time talking with the previous guy. Virgil, if he remembered correctly, he was calmed, and helpful, and did not said anything that made Logan want to cut his ears to try and stop listening unlike Mr Clarke. He knew perfectly that cutting his ears off to stop listening wouldn't work but he was more than ready to give it a try.

At the end Mr Clarke had finally given him the paper that was exchangeable for actual currency. Most of the crowd that had builded around him and the other man was now talking with Mr Clarke, some people stared at Logan, not seeming like they wanted to approach, but more as if they tried to read him.

Logan ignored them and was looking for Virgil to see if the offer of a place to stay was still on, when he saw a kid, 7, probably 8 years old, seemingly really interested on some, not quite good, copies of different types of crowns and tiaras.

He walked towards the kid, who was examining one specific type of crown.

"It is not a perfect copy, you know?" Logan tried, not a lot of kids watched crowns with that intensity, and he remembered a time when himself looked at certain riches with the same look.

"Dad says that all that is displayed here is authentic" the boy turned to see him, examined him up and down, and then smiled as a greeting.

Logan found himself smiling back.

"Do you see the way the crown is bent in the edges towards the center? And how does it have cushion inside?" The little boy nodded looking at it carefully "Those are not supposed to be there, the cushion is usually a sign of weak ruling, not wanting to feel any kind of discomfort is not good seen between rulers. The bending can be seen on some more religious oriented monarchies, but is not often seeing that, usual monarchy crowns have sharp endings that indicate power and inflict respect"

"You know a lot about that mister" the kid sounded genuinely interested and surprised, and Logan found himself hoping that most kids on this place were as curious and knowledge seeking as him.

"You can call me Logan, kid"

"Pops and dad say that it's not nice talking to an adult by his name, that it's not respectful" The boy turned to look at two males that were discussing something at the door. Logan was relieved to see Virgil there, he had not missed the guy after all.

"Well, take this as another lesson kid, respect is not something that you should give freely, it's something that people should earn" 

"I'm Thomas" the boy said while extending an arm towards him "A lot of people came to look at you Mr Logan, are you not from here?" 

Thomas inclined his head in curiosity and Logan noticed that he was actually enjoying the company of the kid. He knew where to look and for that, Logan had to give him credit.

"I'm from a place really far away" 

Logan's answer made Thomas smile excitedly, and Logan felt like it was his turn being confused.

"Like Far Far Away from Shrek? Is that why you know so much about Kings?"

Logan blinked once, and then twice. He was not sure what most of that sentence had meant, but he was sure that Thomas expected an answer related to his question.

"I am sorry, but I don't know anything that goes by 'shrek'" 

Thomas seemed to have find that a personal insult because suddenly he was jumping and his eyes were opened in shock.

"It's an amazing movie! It's about this ogre that saves a princess with his best friend donkey, and then the princess is cursed! She is beautiful by day and then an ogre by night, and then there is a dragon that-"

"Hey hey, breathe Thomas" Thomas' excitement was contagious, but he could barely kept the train of thought that the kid had. Logan found himself chuckling lightly.

"Thomas!" A scream came from the other side of the room, and then fast footsteps on their direction.

"I'm so sorry sir, Thomas is a curious kid" The male that accompanied Virgil, probably his partner, stood at one side of Thomas and put a hand on the kids shoulder, more in protection against Logan than as an apology.

Logan straightened himself and shaked his head slightly "Oh not at all, Thomas is in fact a pretty good kid, fast learner"

Logan saw how Thomas smiled besides his parents, looking proud of himself.

Logan raised a hand and extended it to the guy "Logan Ward former Nutter"

Both Virgil and his couple seemed surprised at the presentation and turned to look at his hand looking for the ring.

"Patton Sanders, and this are Virgil and Thomas" Logan shaked Patton's hand, while nodding at Virgil 

"Married?" Virgil asked, it seemed like curiosity ran in the family.

"Happily" Logan confirmed. It must have been the answer that Patton was expecting because he visibly relaxed.

"Virgil told me that you were looking for a place to stay?"

Logan nodded and he thought that he was lucky having found some good company to spend his time in there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! :D This one is longer than I expected but I didn't know where to cut :P
> 
> This is also not beta-read so if there is any error please let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me a while but I'm back :D Thank you to everyone who has been leaving kudos and comments! I love reading them you guys are amazing <3

Roman was pacing in the main hall, expecting either Remus or Damon to arrive with some news. 

They had gone to the dungeons and the unused chambers, looking for any kind of clue that would lead them to either the author of the book, or something that could help them find Logan. 

The thought of Logan missing revolted everything inside him. They had met under… certainly different circumstances that what it was used to. Their parents weren't fond of them marrying someone like Logan

They didn't care that they had married each other, siblings after all would keep the family blood line pure, the problem had been Logan.

Of course they ended up marrying anyway, they loved each other, they were happy together, a way in which they weren't going to be if they married with anyone else. The fight had been big, his father almost went along with a murder plan to keep Logan out of the picture, and Roman was sure that his mother tried adding venom on Logan's food more than once. But they came through, they got their happily ever after (or at least they had had until now).

Then there was Damon, Logan's childhood friend and now close friend of the royal family  _ and _ royal advisor. Damon had wits, he didn't doblegated for anyone and was only loyal to close friends, and even then, Roman was sure that if it would ever mean choosing between the crown or Logan, Damon would choose Logan.

A loud sound took Roman out of his thoughts and a mix of hope and worry washed over him at seeing Remus enter through the door.

"Anything useful?" Roman ran towards Remus having the need of some physical touch.

"Not really" Remus said hugging Roman with the same desperation "I tried taberns and ex thieves but nothing, no one had ever heard of a book like such"

They took a step back, arms still touching each other.

"Remus, if we don't get him back-"

"We will" his brother interrupted promptly "We are not losing him"

Roman nodded and let himself be hugged by Remus again. They weren't much different, mainly because they were twins, but it was also their morals and thoughts. People seemed to think differently, that Roman was a collected king, to the one they could talk and tell their problems and he would find a way to help them get through. With Remus they expected power and protection, the kind that would make any enemy fear at his feet if anyone dared to attack them.

But they were not. Roman had the same passion and power of his brother, he would make everything fall crumbling if he thought it was necessary. Remus was calm too, he was more diplomatic than anyone gave him credit for. They were two sides of a same coin that shared the same foundation.

Logan had fell for both of them, the  _ real _ them. It took him sometime to get around accepting it, but he did.

And they both missed him.

"Your highness" Damon walked into the hall, without even stopping to call for their attention first.

No other member of their court would walk around as freely as their royal advisor, not caring if they disrupted the kings. Damon on the other hand, he had a fire, it took Roman and Remus quite some time to get used to it, but they did it for Logan.

"Damon, any news?" Roman straightened turning to look at the advisor, not letting go of Remus.

"No, your highness" Damos tone was dark, carrying the weight of a full day of searching around the kingdom "Maybe we should break the news to your people"

Damon's words fell heavily on Roman. They didn't want to worry anyone, even if Logan was not completely social, he cared for their people, and they knew, they cared for their king too. If they told everyone that one of their kings was missing, they would panic, blames would start running around and that was the least they wanted.

"No" Remus spoke decidedly "We are waiting a little more"

Damon shaked his head, rejection building on his features.

Roman could tell that Damon was handsome, he would have a line of suitors forming behind him, he would if it wasn't for his situation. Neither of the brothers knew the complete story, but they knew parts, they knew that Logan found Damon and helped him with something that made Damon owed his life to Logan, Logan declining it but still letting Damon travel with him, something bad happening again and ending on a curse falling upon Damon, making half of his skin snake-like. Yet again, they could never get the complete story out of any of the pair, so they let it be.

"We need all the possible help" Damon remarked.

Roman grabbed himself harder from his husband's arm, feeling as if he could fall at any given time. Damon was right, they needed more help, they three searching every place would get them nowhere eventually, and they had to help Logan. No one knew where he was and if it was dangerous and they didn't arrive in time to help him, then the blame was on them.

"We may need help, but we don't need questions asked right now, least when we don't have answers to give them" Remus seemed to notice Roman's situation because he grabbed him by the waist to keep him in place.

Roman's panic made itself more notorious and that had been the last drop. He needed to compose himself, he couldn't be the damsel in distress right now.

"We will not tell anyone, yet" Damon and Remus turned to look at Roman, who was now standing by himself, but still not wanting to let go of his husband "Remus is right, we cannot tell them anything if we cannot do anything to prevent panicking"

Damon's worry and desperation grew "Logan could be in danger!" 

"I know, that is why we are putting the royal guard on searching duty, only royal staff can know about this situation"

The news seemed to calm Damon a little, but still looked as if he was two seconds away from exploding. At the end, Damon took a deep breath, and locked eyes with Remus, expecting both of the kings approvals.

Remus on the other side, had tensed at the mention of telling others about what was happening, and Roman didn't blame him. If they actually explained with detail what had happened, fingers would start pointing at whoever they thought guilty, and that would inevitable fall on Remus.

Roman gave his husband's arm a small squeeze, trying to convey everything to him. That he was there, that they needed to find Logan, that it hadn't been his fault, that it had been a mistake. That they three needed to be together again.

Remus nodded slightly before talking again "Make everyone come to the throne room, we need the searching begin as soon as possible"

Damon bowed, and without any other word he got out of the hall.

"We will tell them only the necessary" Roman said, turning to look at Remus, putting a hand on his shoulder "The important thing is to get Logan back"

Roman closed the space between them and kissed Remus, letting him know that they could share the pain.

When they broke their kiss, with their foreheads together, they spoke with only his eyes. Dread, fear, need, desperation, and at the base of everything, hope. Because hope was the last thing that they were letting go.

Moments later, when they were on the throne room, they told the members of their staff the news. King Logan was missing, they needed to get him back, and to do so they needed the author of an old book with old and dark magic.

Roman, Remus, and Damon stood as calmed as possible to not cause any unnecessary panic. The members of their army, maids, cooks, and land caretakers, all of them bowed and pledge to find anything useful, just as they also pledge a vow of silence. They had more help now, they would find the missing king.

And the two kings and the advisor hoped that it would be enough.

* * *

"This would be your place" His pops told Mr Logan, standing at the one side of the stairs, letting their new neighbor see for himself the complete place.

There was a bathroom, a main room where the new man was going to sleep, and an empty room for Mr Logan to put all of his other stuff inside. There was also a main area that Mr Logan could transform into a big living room, there was a sofa that used to be theirs in the middle, but if Mr Logan was had as much money as he heard his parents say downstairs, then he would probably buy much more stuff.

While his pops took Mr Logan for a tour through the rooms, Thomas sneaked past them and hid behind the sofa. His dad had told him to go and do his homework while his pops showed Mr Logan around, but the man had caught Thomas’ attention. He seemed to know a lot about crowns and had a lot of money, and a lot of people seemed to stare at him as if they were scared of talking to him.

Thomas had also wanted to stare at the man, but it would have been impolite to do so, and his dads had taught him better, the older people who stared at him didn’t seemed like their parents had taught them that. On the other side, the man approached him, and told him about how the crown wasn’t supposed to be like that, and the meaning of it.

Mr Logan was certainly a curious man, and he should had probably go back downstairs and actually do his homework, but he wanted to learn about the man a little more. He had also grabbed his own copy of the movie ‘Shrek’. Everyone liked ‘Shrek’.

“And that would be about it, I’m sorry that it’s not much” his pops say walking towards the stairs, Mr Logan following his steps with his arms behind him.

Thomas moved fast, circling the sofa, if his pops found out he was there it wouldn’t end good for him. The bad thing was that now he couldn’t see either of the older men.

“It is certainly enough, and comfortable, thank you again for letting me stay” Mr Logan’s voice said.

“No problem at all, we were renting it for a reason after all” His pops let out a small chuckle and then there was a small silence, Thomas really wished he could see them right now, reading people by looking at them was easier than by not looking at them. “You wouldn’t have a kitchen here, but we have dinner by 8 if you would like to serve yourself a plate you are more than welcomed, or if you would like to cook yourself something to eat, you are also welcomed to” 

Another quiet moment passed, and Thomas decided that next time he was also getting a mirror like in the movies, maybe that way he could see them.

“Thank you, Patton” Mr Logan said and then there were the distinctive steps of his pops going down the stairs “You can come out now Thomas”

A shiver traveled down Thomas back and he knew that he was in trouble. Thomas stepped out of behind the couch, expecting to see Mr Logan looking at him mad for invading what was now his personal space. 

It had once been his room, the one that was now empty, and while he didn’t really cared, now he had daily sleepovers with his dads, he sometimes missed his own room. But it wasn’t like he had came upstairs to fight for his old room, he wanted to keep talking with Mr Logan, and he wanted to give him the movie for him to watch it.

However when he turned to look at the man he didn’t look angry, not even disappointed like his dads looked at him when he did something that he shouldn’t do. Instead Mr Logan was looking at him amused, as if he had actually found funny that Thomas had sneaked past his parents.

That didn’t mean that Thomas was not going to apologize.

“I’m sorry Mr Logan, I won’t do it again”

Thomas saw how Mr Logan raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Why did you come here?” Mr Logan sat at the farest edge of the couch, signaling Thomas to seat at the other edge.

“I wanted to give you this” he answered shyly, handing Mr Logan the dvd of the movie.

When the man took it and examined it, a slight smile crossed his face, and Thomas relaxed a little, maybe that meant that he wasn’t in problems.

“Shrek, I see” Thomas smiled and nodded fervently, just to see how the man’s face changed again to confusion once he opened the package of the CD “I don’t understand”

Thomas inclined his head in curiosity, it was just a CD “It’s a movie, Mr Logan, you put it on a DVD and then you play it”

Mr Logan was still really confused, but he promptly shaked his head and smiled at him, as if he hadn’t not understand since the beginning.

“Of course… a DVD” Mr Logan put the CD aside carefully, as if scared to break it.

Thomas decided that he was going to test his luck “Mr Logan, do you not know how movies work?”

Thomas had this move that he used with his parents, and almost any adult, if he was sitting, he would cross his legs, look at the adult in their eyes making sure that he was looking up, and tilted his head, usually to his right. This helped him get what he wanted most of the time, he also needed to think about it strongly, if he wished for it hard enough it almost always came true. Right now what he wanted most was to learn from where Mr Logan was.

Mr Logan looked at Thomas’ eyes, scrutinizing him, and looking for something that Thomas had no idea what it was. At the end Mr Logan seemed to fell for Thomas’ tactic because he sighed and took the CD case again.

“No kid, I must say I am not familiar with this” the man said, almost ashamed of himself. 

Thomas didn’t know how to act, he was, most than anything, excited, Mr Logan was the first adult that did not acted as if he knew everything, he had actually told Thomas that he did not know something, even his dads usually told him that they knew everything, and while those were white lies to make Thomas feel secure, it wasn’t true. Then there was the part of him that felt a little bad for him, Mr Logan had never seen a movie before! He was missing the best form of entertainment that there was! And finally, complete excitement over the fact that there was a person who he could show some of his favorite movies and then Mr Logan could enjoy them, for the first time!

“It’s okay” Thomas ended up saying, not quite hiding his complete enthusiasm “I can teach you! We can watch movies together!”

Mr Logan’s eyes opened in surprise, maybe he wasn’t used to people helping him with his usual questions, but that was okay too. Thomas would help him.

Mr Logan stared at Thomas for a moment before a small smile showing on his lips “It sounds delightful Thomas, thank you”

“Of course!” Thomas said smiling back “I do have a question Mr Logan”

“Of course"

“Where are you from?” 

Mr Logan, seemed to tense at the question and Thomas felt bad for asking. Maybe Mr Logan didn’t like his home and just ran away, maybe he didn’t even had a home. Or maybe it was like his dad, that the people at his past home didn’t want him there and decided to not see them anymore.

“I’m from a far away place, I think I told you that before?” Mr Logan’s answer caught Thomas on guard, he seemed not to want to talk about it and Thomas was not going to push.

“I’m sorry, didn’t want to offend you” Thomas’ voice came out as almost a whisper.

Mr Logan sighed again and rubbed his eyes “You are not offending me Thomas, you are curious and there is nothing bad about wanting to ask questions” Thomas felt a little relieved but he waited for the adult to finish talking “It is just that I left three people that I love behind, and now I want to go back but it will take me sometime”

Thomas didn’t know that, and he felt bad now. Mr Logan had left his family behind and now was… lost. 

He turned to see at the other’s hand and remembered what Mr Logan told his parents.

“Did you leave your partner behind?” Now that was another heavy question that he may have not asked, but he was learning more about Mr Logan, and that had been his intentions since the beginning.

“Partners, plural” 

And that was definitely something that Thomas had never heard before. Did that mean that Mr Logan was married to more than just one person? Was that a common thing from where he came from? How did it work? Did he loved one more than the other?

Thomas heard Mr Logan chuckle and that made his train of thought get in the rails again “You can ask questions. I promise I won’t get mad”

Thomas felt curiosity burn through his veins, he wanted to know, he had so many questions, he just didn’t know where to start.

Mr Logan seemed to notice that he was struggling because he talked first “I’m married to two amazing men, their names are Remus and Roman, I met them about 9 years ago and they somehow managed to find a way to make me fall in love with them”

Thomas smiled at the way Mr Logan talked about his husbands, it sounded just like the way that his pops talked about his dad when they were on a friend’s house and the adults were talking, or when he spend the day at his dad’s work and some friend from work asked him about his life. It was nice. It also made Thomas feel more secure knowing that the man was like him and his dads, sometimes when a guy liked another guy other people acted aggressive towards each other when there wasn’t a reason to.

“Was it love at first sight?” Thomas asked “Pops say that when he first saw dad he fell for him instantly”

“Do you believe them?” Mr Logan answered him with another ask, it wasn’t with malice, Thomas could tell, but with actual wonder.

“I don’t know” Thomas said sincerely “I have never been in love”

Mr Logan nodded slowly and after a couple of seconds he spoke again.

“Mine wasn’t” Mr Logan smiled at Thomas before continuing “I didn’t like any of them at the beginning, they were rash, self-centered, and narcissistic, I couldn’t stand them”

“Then why did you marry them?” It sounded horrible, marrying and staying with someone that you didn’t like.

“Because I judged them harshly when I met them, after spending time with them I learned that they were nice, charming, they knew what they had to do, and somehow they did had their priorities in order, they were brave and stubborn, we built our own path under our own conditions. Now we get to build a life together"

Thomas had never heard a story like that one. Sure he heard stories about people meeting another and then falling completely in love just to be with each other for the rest of their lives. But Mr Logan’s story was different, he and his family builded their relationship, step by step, and it somehow sounded really beautiful.

“You should go down before your parents know that you are here, we don’t want you getting into trouble” Mr Logan said, standing up from the couch and pointing to the stairs with his head. 

He was right, soon his parents were going to ask where was him and they thought he was doing homework. Thomas stood up and went down two steps before turning to face the man again.

“You should really have dinner with us, Mr Logan. And even join us for movie night, no one should dine alone”

Mr Logan gave him a small smile again, and nodded “I will think about it”

The hope of him actually taking his word made Thomas fill with joy and with a wave goodbye he started to go back downstairs. 

When he was almost on the first floor he remembered that Mr Logan had said that he had left behind 3 people that he loved, but he only told him about 2. Maybe he could use that excuse to go and talk to him again sometime.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I've wanted to post this chapter for a while now but for some reason the first part gave me some troubles.
> 
> I hope you guys like this!

“It could have gone worse” Patton said moving around the kitchen.

They were setting everything up to make dinner. It was usual for Patton and him to make dinner together, it gave them time to talk and spend some quality time together. Besides it was almost 7 o’clock, and they liked having a schedule to follow.

“Today was still a very bizarre day” Virgil added, cutting the vegetables for the lasagna “First the probation, then the whole thing with our new tenant. Wasn’t it weird that with all of his money he doesn’t have a car?”

Patton started to make the sauce for the pasta and, even if he hadn’t say anything, Virgil could see how Patton also was a little weirded out.

“Maybe he has a personal driver?”

Virgil fought against laughing, the man definitely did not had a driver, he was sure that he barely understood what was happening. Logan was weird and Virgil still wasn’t sure about letting him live on their second floor and so close to their son. Something wasn’t right about him, Virgil couldn’t put a finger on it and he didn’t want to accuse him without really knowing him, but still… Also he was not getting paranoid. Maybe they should have interviewed the guy before letting him stay, they had already made Logan sign the contract for at least a three month stay. What if he _did_ meant harm?

A pair of arms were suddenly around him and Virgil tensed. “We _should_ be careful, but you are overthinking” Patton whispered gently from behind him, letting his hands travel to Virgil’s and leading him on cutting the veggies.

“Is overthinking such a bad thing?” Virgil joked while letting his weight fell a little on Patton’s chest.

“Well, if he suddenly gets violent or something we could take him down, I’ve been going to the gym, you know?”

Virgil started to laugh quietly and Patton, keeping on with his joke, tensed his muscles and puffed his chest. Patton wasn’t a really muscular man, he was more into the dad-body spectrum than on the daily-gym one, but he was so not complaining, it was perfect for cuddles.

“Oh, I’ve noticed”

“ _And_ if he suddenly starts growing weed, we could probably ask for royalties” That got a full laugh from Virgil, who was really not expecting such topic on the conversation.

“Jesus Christ, Pat” Virgil turned to kiss sweetly his husband “You should go back to the sauce before you burn it and we stay without dinner”

Patton giggled and went back to his part of the dinner.

“I invited him to have dinner with us” Patton suddenly said.

“Patton!” The knife that Virgil had in his hands fell to the ground and he was really thankful that he moved his feet fast. The knife hadn’t fell with the sharp ending down, but the scare was still there “Shit”

Virgil picked up the knife and threw it on the dishwasher. He may had laughed at Patton's joke but was still wary of the man, they had meet him that same day for goodness sake!

“I thought it would be nice!” Patton said with his eyes locked on the almost finished sauce “He is alone, Virge”

“For a reason!” Patton turned to look at him, scolding him with his stare and making Virgil put his hands up in surrender “I just mean, we don’t know who he is”

Patton stood silently for a minute, Virgil had ideas of what could be going through his mind but didn’t want to intervene.

“We could get to know him” Patton said, almost whispering “If he actually takes my word on it and he does come to eat with us, maybe we could, you know, be sure that he is not a maniac”

Patton locked eyes with him for a second. Both of them considering their options. At the end, Virgil conceded.

“Maybe it’s for the best” Virgil said and Patton lightened up and poured everything together, preparing it for the oven “That doesn’t mean I am not going to be socially anxious”

Patton smiled calmly, putting all of the ingredients aside to reach for Virgil again.

“If it gets too much, you can leave using movie night as an excuse”

Virgil smiled back at Patton, nodded, and helped him set their dinner. When everything was inside the oven, they started cleaning what they used and setting the table, leaving an extra set of plate and cutlery out on purpose.

They worked well together. Patton and him hadn’t had the best of childhoods, both had gone through some dark times a long time ago. Now they had some trouble with money and whatnot, but they were happy, all of what they had endured, finally arriving to a place in which they knew that even if they could be better, they had each other, and that was what counted.

“I’ll go for Thomas” Virgil said when the timer marked that the food was ready “You should go and ask your new friend if he will join us, after all”

“Let’s see how it goes”

Virgil nodded slightly, not sure if Patton had noticed but not minding either way.

“Let’s see how it goes” He mumbled, his anxiety starting to build inside him.

* * *

It was dark. Probably pass midnight. The lights that hanged on the front of some houses let Remus see where he was going. He was sure he could get to his destination blindfolded, but time mattered right now, and he was not wasting any.

The bar zone, behind the castle, close to the port of their kingdom, was mostly closed. Not many people dared to keep open their establishments during dark hours, the kingdom could be safe now, but there was a time when it wasn’t like that. Their ancestors, up until their parents, had drawn uncountable things from the darkness, people lived in constant fear of someone or something attacking them. They brought feuds, debts, sickness, and enemies, all while calling it a reinforcement for the kingdom.

Remus didn’t think that he could ever forget the story that his father used to tell Roman and him when going to sleep.

The placement of their kingdom was one of the best spots on the land, being able to have ships sail and search for resources with a shore with the fifth sea, having open land in the entrance, perfect to see what was happening and who was arriving, not too north nor too in the equator to have extreme seasons and the weather being most of the time perfect for growing and farming.

But there was also the dangerous part. The Endless Forest northeast from them, miles and miles of whispering trees, making even the most experienced traveler get lost within minutes of being inside it. The various leviathans and flying monsters that roamed the seas, hiding in the foggiest part of the water. Everything got them surrounded, and since he was a child he learned to fear them.

Remus could hear his father’s voice.

_When our land was no more than sand, when the wind shushed every one of our thoughts, and the moon shined upon us mocking our attempts to survive, our ancestor, Nathaniel Ward, arrived to a land where he could place the foundation of a future. Nathaniel was a son of one of the monarchies from the south, being the youngest son and knowing full well that he was not getting any of the lands of their territory, he went in search of his own._

_Nathaniel, traveling with two of his most close companions Evelion and Osiris, inspected what seemed a promising place, unaware of the darkness and evil that sucked the life of the earth as a leech. They settled their camp right at the side of the shore, drinking and joking, planning the world that was going to be theirs. They dined and toasted to their future, going to sleep moments later._

_Moments passed, Nathaniel deep in his slumber when the darkness smiled._

_A scream, from one of his friends woke him up. It was guttural and chilling, the kind of scream that anyone who was facing death would give. Nathaniel stood up as fast as possible, and the first thing that he noticed, was that the fire was gone, the only light that they had now being the moon and the stars. The second thing he noticed was Evelion, rock in hand, and Osiris lying in the ground, half of his head deformed and bleeding._

_Nathaniel, knowing that he could be next, went arm in arm against Evelion. At the end he resulted victorious, landing one last fatal punch on Evelion’s head. Knowing that he had to do something, he dragged Evelion’s body to the forest not far from them and buried it, making sure to put big rocks above his tomb expecting him to not move._

_For the time that was inside the forest, Nathaniel swore he could hear giggling all around him, staring and pointing at him, hunting him. Even if he had took only a couple of steps to enter the forest it took him hours to finally find his way back. Knowing that the place was at least haunted, he took his horse and, forgetting about all of his belongings and Osiris’ body that was still on the ground, he turned around and went back to his kingdom._

_N_ _athaniel came back after all, this time with an army and subjects. Knowing more than what he did before, knowing that the night was poisonous and could turn anyone into vicious animals, they created a ward around the Endless Forest. Nathaniel never gave up, and build his new home above the ashes of the past._

_"_ _But what about, Osiris’ body?” Remus caught himself remembering asking one time, knowing full well that it would unsettle his brother “Nathaniel had left it there, did they move it?”_

_Their father smiled, a cold smile, as if not standing having to answer to someone “Buried in the sea, as a hero”_

_Roman had smiled then, enjoying happy endings far more than realistic ones._

Remus found himself smiling at the memory “That fucking lying bastard”

Everything that his family had told them was a lie, he gave them the benefit of the doubt when talking about the three original travelers, but the story and their reactions got more twisted with every passing generation. There was no evil that came from the forest, there was not evil that poisoned people after dark, and making magic illegal was one of the most stupid decisions their ancestors had made.

Logan had taught him that.

The day they both had met Logan, a Roman and Remus had broken their parents’ rules and entered the Endless Forest, they would have ended lost if it hadn’t been for the handsome and mysterious man that appeared and got them out. Logan had taught them everything that they knew about the forest, everything that could and could not happen. And even if they didn’t believe in the same, both Roman and him bowing to the God of it All and Logan not bowing to any God whatsoever, Logan always answered their questions, no matter the topic.

Remus got down from his horse, knowing that he had arrived to the tavern that could have some answers.

When he entered he got the distinct smell of old beer, leather, and blood. Remus couldn’t help but smile, it had been a while since he got into this part of their kingdom.

He used to come often before getting married. Do some jobs, get some physical payments in return, drink beer until passing out and betting on which of the newlings would throw up first. Mercenaries all over the place, fighting, the sounds of people fucking upstairs, it had always been his type of ambience.

He walked towards the bar, people not recognizing him thanks to the cape that kept his face well hidden. There were new faces, some younger than what he expected but he was not complaining, he knew their kingdom was getting better and safer, but he also knew that they weren’t in any case exempt of mercenaries and thieves. There were also faces he _did_ recognize, some friends with whom he used to work, some of them that had worked with illegal dark magic in their times.

He sat on the bar, knowing that someone was going to notice him any time soon.

And indeed someone did, he had barely drank any of his beer when a man came behind him, giving him a strong punch on his shoulder.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t your majesty. What is someone, oh so great, doing on this part of the kingdom? Your royal deity should have told us beforehand to let us make this place a bit decent, at least” behind him he could hear some laughs from other men that were sat close enough to hear them talk.

“Shut the fuck up, Folville” Remus growled, not wanting to attract attention, or at least not that early into the night.

“What? Did you get bored of both of them in bed? It took you almost a decade but hey! We guessed you were just busy changing from hole to hole”

Remus’ blood ran cold, and with one swift movement he had a knife on Folville’s throat, making it bleed, but not enough for it to be a killing cut. He was glad that his movements hadn’t got rusted with the years, if he needed a fast escape he could definitely make it.

"One more word and you will be left with no tongue" Remus threatened, keeping the knife still, letting him know that he was not kidding.

The tavern was still full with life, people there being used to see fights and death at least twice a week.

Suddenly Folville smiled and raised his hands on surrender "Welcome back, Duke"

Remus contained a shiver, not knowing if it was dread or excitement what caused it, and took a step back. It had been a long time since someone called him Duke, it had been a nickname used for when he joined them on their ‘adventures’.

They were on good terms, Folville and him. They had met one fall, both of them looking to escape from their normal lives. No one had taken any of them seriously in the beginning, one of the princes and a farm boy were far from what could have been considered scary. They didn’t backed down. They trained on their own terms, learned how to sneak past guards and shopkeepers. With time some of the older mercenaries kept an eye on them and taught them some tactics, from maneuvering with different weapons, to know how to play cards and win (they also created their own creative ways to win, but those were other stories).

While Remus learned his way with any type of weapon, and how to use anything as a weapon, Folville went into the manipulation of dark magic. He wasn’t the best, to be truly known as someone who could control magic you had to have at least someone in your bloodline with magic, Folville didn’t have anyone, but that never stopped him.

Needless to say that they became well known.

His parents never approved, of course, Remus’ had to admit that most of his doings were in spite. Most of the balls that they went as a royal family, Remus always felt a very distinct pride build inside him every time he heard anyone talk about how _“The young Ward usually gets together with mercenaries, thieves, and assassins”_ of course not knowing even the first half of the story, but still building a reputation for him.

Even after the groundings and scoldings, he kept escaping to live his life. Just as his parents, Roman never liked his way of standing out, it made them have a good amount of fights back in the day, but it was mostly because of the different ways they had to create a life for themselves.

On the other side, they were bad, but not evil. Few people seemed too caught up with that. They were their own community. They had been his family at some point. And when Remus finally got married and decided to change from doing his little adventures for something bigger that involved the two people that he loved the most, then Folville let him go.

Folville stayed in the dark parts of their kingdom, Remus knowing completely that he had far more power over those people than the actual kings. Folville helped the boys on the tavern as much as he could, kept tabs on what was going on, and left the stealing to the richer parts of the kingdom.

"I came to ask for help"

Remus was not someone that asked for help every time the situation got rough, had never been, and never was going to be, everyone that met him knew that, but his husband was missing, left without a trace, and he did not trusted their guards as much as he trusted a bandit's greed.

Folville seemed to caught something on Remus’ tone, because he was suddenly leaning on the bar of the tavern looking interested.

"And what, pray tell, would you need help with?" Folville said amused, the tone that they used when they were mocking someone.

And Remus knew that they had at least a small crowd behind them not so subtly listening.

"Magic" Laugh raised around him, letting him know that, at least the entire tavern was hearing their conversation. It wasn’t usual to see the king, ex-bandit, come asking for help. Least of all for something as magic.

"Wasn't there a big thing because you and you pretty brother married an actual witch?" Folville said, a mix of curiosity and amusement dropping from his tone, and gaining more laughter from the people on the tavern.

But Remus didn't have time to deal with that. He needed the information, and he needed it fast, or at least he needed to know that there was more people searching for Logan than just their staff. This crowd made their life out of tracking and finding people, they all had way more opportunities to find Logan with this people than from any other royal guard.

"I will give you 50 pieces, if you are any kind of help" Remus dropped the first quantity of money as if it was nothing.

It had had the effect desired, the laughs were now gone, most of them shutting up in surprise at the mention of there being money on the table. Folville on the other side, he was looking interested, but if Remus knew him well, he was raising the stakes.

And it worked. Folville didn't have any more an amused face but a serious one, considering if 50 gold pieces was actually good enough. Remus had prepared for Folville's answer since before going out from the castle, he had everything where he wanted it to be.

"100" Folville raised the quantity, sitting straight on the stool he was seated.

"25" Remus lowered the price, he was going to taunt him. He needed the man’s help, anyone of the mercenaries help, but if he played by their rules. Remus was not going to end up winning in any scenario.

"95"

Folville was talking business and their spectators started to mutter between them. All of the bar was on Folville’s side, Remus may have some history with them but he was still the king, and royalty on their kingdom hadn’t been good until a decade ago. Remus had to keep everyone on their good side, he couldn’t give them everything that they asked, even if he wanted to do it for Logan. Those people had a way of working, not following those steps would be detrimental for Remus.

"50" Remus went up again, Folville could read him, he was sure of it, but breaking down was not something Remus knew.

"90" Folville was either getting frustrated or amused, and either way he was already on the tension point, dragging the number more would cut Remus’ opportunities.

"70, and that's my last offer"

Folville stood still, staring at Remus eyes, daring him to back down. Not that Remus blamed him, he was the one that lied and deceived face to face on their roaming days.

Everyone else was quiet, Remus hadn’t noticed them quieting down, but he guessed it had been at the last offer.

"Deal" Folville agreed smirking.

Remus and Folville stretched hands and the muttering came back again "What do you know about dark books of magic and witches that used to be in capture inside the castle?"

"As in your high maintenance home?" The amusement was still on Folville's tone but his posture was more open now "People talk about it, the witch hunt, but none of them did real magic, we all knew that"

"But there was something wasn't there? Someone different?"

"Eager, are you?" The other man huffed.

" _Much_ ”

“No there wasn’t”

“Folville-”

“Remus, there was no one with any _real_ magic. Why do you think your father was so excited to kill Nutter?”

Remus felt his heart sink, this was the best shot that he had and it was going downhill.

“That doesn’t mean that there weren’t some amateurs trapped inside the dungeons, but no one special”

“Someone with weird books, then! Hidden carvings on the wall or markings on their skin! There has to be something”

Folville shrugged as a response and drank from his beer “Old Cora and her lackeys? Those never shut up about how they can grant magic to anyone who asks for it, how it will give them eternal beauty and whatnot”

“This is not helping!”

“You are not helping either, Remus” Folville smashed his beer to the bar and leaned threatening towards Remus “I am telling you everything that I know, and that’s what you wanted. So you don’t get to back down from this deal”

“I am not” Remus pulled a small bag and handed it to Folville, then giving the bartender a couple of silver coins for the beer.

“This is not the amount we agreed Ward” Folville growled when Remus stood up and started to walk towards the entrance of the bar.

“Get me more useful information and then we can agree on how much more I will give you” Remus was not turning back to see Folville, the other man was intelligent enough to not attack him on his back, and the rest of the bar had enough self-preservation to know when to get in trouble and when they shouldn’t. “If any of you have anything with _actual_ information, then you know where to find me”

And with that he left the bar ready to ride his horse towards the castle. He hadn’t got much information, but he knew that he was not getting anything at first, now he just had to wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me on tumblr at @logic-is-not-missing


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